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Missa in honorem Sanctae Ursulae 'Chiemsee-Messe'

Introduction

This fine Mass was completed on 5 August 1793 for the convent of Frauenwörth, a Benedictine Abbey set on a beautiful island in the Bavarian Chiemsee (hence the nickname ‘Chiemsee-Messe’), and was probably intended for the service on 19 August accompanying the taking of final vows by the composer’s friend Ursula Oswald. Throughout his life, Haydn held close ties with the Benedictine church, maintaining a lifelong friendship with the brothers of the Abbey of St Peter in Salzburg, even living in one of their abbey houses. A manuscript copy of this Mass is still to be found in the music archive there.

Some three dozen Masses by Haydn survive. He described himself as a methodical copyist and indeed his manuscripts are neat and unusually free of errors. The Mass for St Ursula is a substantial work which well represents Haydn’s late style, in which large-scale unity is achieved through the subtle transformation and recall of thematic material between the movements. The scoring is for strings (without violas), two trumpets and timpani, with the lower three vocal parts doubled, as was customary at the time, by trombones.

The ‘Kyrie’ is optimistic, with soloists and chorus answering one another, pinned together by splendidly ornate violin lines. The ‘Gloria’ is one of Haydn’s finest; a cheerful, unison choral opening sets a triumphant tone, against which the violins whirl in elegant flurries of notes. In the middle section Haydn makes use of a favourite colour, that of muted violins, adding melodic inflections and harmonic twists which are reminiscent of writing that was to be produced by Mendelssohn twenty years later: a stylish, sighing motif is skilfully developed. The highlight of the movement is a compelling closing fugue, ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu’, which finds Haydn at his most uplifting and thrilling.

The ‘Credo’ too opens confidently, with the trumpets eventually provided with an uncommon role, that of representing the descent from heaven. In the intimate middle section, ‘Et incarnatus est’, sighing muted violins accompany the solo quartet, with trumpets and timpani entering to indicate the nails of the crucifixion: the chromatic ending of ‘et sepultus est’ is another fine touch before a triumphant resurrection and an ecstatic ‘Amen’.

Haydn opens the ‘Sanctus’ solemnly and, unusually, quietly, reserving joyfulness instead for the ‘Pleni sunt coeli’ and a brief ‘Osanna’. Unusual too is the scoring of the gentle ‘Benedictus’, where the conventional late-eighteenth-century scoring usually involves all four solo voices: Haydn writes for the soprano alone, punctuated occasionally by the chorus. An orchestral motif (first gently introduced at 0'53") increases in prominence during the movement.

The ‘Agnus Dei’ again makes use of the colour of muted violins, who introduce another Mendelssohnian orchestral motif (three chromatically rising notes followed by a descending fifth) which gently permeates the slow opening section, reaching its development in the extrovert, closing allegro molto. Haydn’s ‘Dona nobis pacem’ is jubilant, though he leaves one final, surprise gesture for the end of this splendid Mass setting.

Recordings

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Glory be to God on high. And on earth peace to men of good will. We praise thee; we bless thee; we adore thee; we glorify thee. We give thee thanks for thy great glory. Lord God, heavenly king, God the almighty Father. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Most High. Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. Thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us. For thou alone art the Holy One. Thou alone art the Lord. Thou, Jesus Christ, alone art the Most High. With the Holy Ghost in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds. God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.

And the third day he rose again according to the scriptures. And ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father, and he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.